The United States Mint's report to Congress on alternative compositions for U.S. coinage, written after a two-year study into replacements for the compositions used for the nation's two lowest denominations of coin, makes no recommendations for change.

Mint officials have told Congress that they need more time to study the subject and find new compositions for the cent and 5-cent coin. In the meantime, the Mint will continue to lose money on the billions of those two coins it strikes every year because each coin costs more than face value to produce.

Also in the news: A 14th example of the double-denomination mule featuring a Washington quarter dollar obverse and Sacagawea dollar reverse will be appearing in Heritage's auction during the Florida United Numismatists convention in Orlando in early January. The coin does not appear to be any of the examples listed in any census for the mule errors.